Earlier this week, Syracuse Crunch associate head coach Trent Yawney called his own shot.

The team that snapped back quickest mentally from the AHL all-star break, Yawney theorized, would be off and running when action resumed on Friday.

Yawney’s vision proved to be spot-on, though he took no satisfaction in being right.

Toronto jolted Syracuse with a series of early blows and then fended off a revived Crunch from there to skate off with a 5-2 win at the War Memorial.

In the first game back for both teams, Toronto broke out to a 3-0 lead to knock out starting Crunch netminder Iiro Tarkki in the second. Syracuse showed some life in outshooting the Marlies 39-25, but Toronto goalie Ben Scrivens frustrated his opponents for most of the night.

“I thought they were much more engaged early, had much more energy,’’ Yawney said of Toronto. “We were still on all-star break. There’s a maturity that teams have to reach in the postseason. The good teams are good because they have it all the time. We have to keep forging ahead and learn. Unfortunately, the learning curve is pretty steep.’’

J.F. Jacques and Patrick Maroon each scored for Syracuse, which never came closer than within two goals of Toronto during its muted comeback. The Crunch’s offense should be bolstered by the return of Mark Bell and Kyle Palmieri, both of whom were returned by the Ducks on Friday and are expected to be in the lineup when Rochester visits tonight.

Syracuse had a lot to stew about after heading into the break with the headache of a terrible shootout loss to Bridgeport on Jan. 28, a game that only reached extra time because Tarkki allowed two late goals. But he was no sharper on Friday, allowing three scores on 10 shots.

Tarkki’s night ended with 15:26 left in the second. Toronto’s Simon Gysbers skated from the top of the left circle to the high slot and ripped a long shot past a screen set by teammate Nicolas Deschamps and Crunch defenseman Bryan Rodney past the netminder for a 3-0 lead.

Tarkki looked unsteady from the start, and the Marlies were all over him early. Marcel Mueller pushed in a power-play tally at the 2:33 mark of the first, easily cueing up a puck that had dribbled behind Tarkki but that the netminder couldn’t find.

“Everyone sees his mistakes,’’ Yawney said. “But at the same time, we know he’s a much better player than he’s shown.’’

Patient Toronto dipped into the road-game textbook and sat back waiting to counterpunch on the Crunch’s mistakes. Mike Zigomanis doubled the lead at the 7:39 mark on what should have been a harmless bid from the left side. But the puck had enough muster behind it to slither low past Tarkki’s left side.

“They capitalized on their chances,’’ said Syracuse forward Luca Caputi, who was playing against the team that traded him to the Crunch a month ago. “We have to do a better job getting the puck on net and not letting them get chances.’’

Down by three Syracuse snapped to attention and put a combined 26 bids on Scrivens in the second and third periods. But they couldn’t be linked into rallies. Third-period goals by Jacques and Maroon were each answered by scores from the Marlies.

“Tonight was a situation where we did it to ourselves,’’ said Crunch defenseman Mark Fraser. “Look around this room. There’s a ton of skill. Our new identity is we want teams to fear coming in here. That’s just something that comes between the ears.’’